Chapter One: Calamity Approaches

A gentle morning breeze drifted through the courtyard, sunlight warm and mellow, birds chirping merrily. On the pepperwood perch beneath the veranda, a parrot from the Long Mountains—green-headed, blue-backed, yellow-bellied—busied itself preening its feathers in leisure. From inside the house, peals of laughter could be heard, and the small courtyard was steeped in tranquility.

Suddenly, a young maid rushed in from the open gate, her face pale and her steps unsteady. Before she arrived, her voice rang out:

“Miss, miss, something terrible has happened—something dreadful!”

In an instant, the laughter inside came to an abrupt halt. The parrot, startled, jerked up its head and flapped its wings, crying out in imitation, “It’s bad! It’s bad! Trouble for Zhaozhao!”

“Hua Hua, shut up!” A maid in green hurried from the house, scolding the flapping bird. “Our young lady is perfectly fine! Don’t make a scene or she’ll have words with you later.”

The clever bird immediately shuffled nervously along the perch, its beady eyes full of timidity.

But the maid had no time for the parrot. She turned anxiously to the newcomer, demanding, “Shiqin, what on earth has happened? The young lady is doing her hair—why are you in such a panic—?”

“Out of the way! This is urgent—an emergency!”

The girl called Shiqin ignored the question, shoved past, and darted into the room. Seeing her young mistress seated by the east window at her dressing table, she rushed forward and dropped to her knees.

“Miss, disaster! The Embroidered Guards have surrounded the marquis’s estate—they say they’re here to confiscate everything!”

“What?”

“They’re here to confiscate the house!”

Everyone in the room, and the maids and womenfolk who had come running from the courtyard, turned as one to look at Shiqin.

The young girl sitting on the dressing stool stopped swinging her feet and stared with wide, startled eyes at the kneeling maid. She thought to herself, “This plot about confiscating the household is unfamiliar to me!”

But it was nothing to worry about—she could always ask Xiao Yi.

She quickly tapped on the little bracelet her mother had left her before leaving. Thanks to the bracelet’s invisible virtual screen, no one else could see what she was up to, so Zhaozhao poked at it confidently, communicating mentally.

[Xiao Yi, Xiao Yi.]

[I’m here.]

[What does ‘surrounding the estate and confiscating the household’ mean?]

[Confiscation refers to the ancient monarchical system, where if an official committed a crime—blah blah blah—the ultimate result could be beheading, exile, banishment, or female family members being sent to the Office of Entertainment, among other punishments.]

Qiuxiang, who was doing the young lady’s hair, sighed as she saw her charge once again distractedly playing with her little hands. Ever since the second madam had passed away, her young mistress had changed so much, always sitting alone, lost in her own world. Poor girl, so young and already motherless—the blow had been too great!

Feeling sorry for her, Qiuxiang turned to Shiqin and pressed her further. “Shiqin, slow down and explain. What’s this about the Embroidered Guards surrounding the estate and confiscating it? The marquis was still attending court at the grand assembly this morning, and I haven’t heard of any trouble. Did you perhaps mishear? Maybe the Guards are targeting someone else’s estate nearby?”

“No, I didn’t mishear,” Shiqin replied, shaking her head vigorously. “It’s the absolute truth—I wouldn’t dare lie about something so serious!

Earlier, when you asked me to fetch breakfast from the kitchen, I happened to run into Mama Wu, who was on leave to visit her daughter today. She was terrified, rushing back to the estate and telling everyone in the kitchen she’d seen the Embroidered Guards surround our marquis’s house and announce they were going to confiscate it!

I overheard by chance and rushed here—I couldn’t delay for a moment. And on my way back, I saw the madam and the young master already hurrying to the front courtyard to confront the Guards. If things go badly, it’ll be the end of the world for us!”

The maids inside and outside the house were thrown into chaos—some were weeping, others trembling with fear, all of them suddenly leaderless.

“Heavens, the estate is surrounded and confiscated—what do we do? What are we to do?”

“It’s the end! Disaster has struck! Oh—”

“Enough! The sky hasn’t fallen yet!” Qiuxiang’s voice rang out, steady and commanding. “This is the Marquisate of Wending, personally granted by the founding emperor. Even if the second master isn’t perfect, he was a top scholar—this house won’t fall so easily. And the young lady is still here—why are you all panicking?”

Though the maids admired her composure, their hearts remained unsettled, and some couldn’t help but burst into tears.

“But it’s the Embroidered Guards! No one survives a confiscation—”

Indeed, when the Embroidered Guards come to confiscate, no one is spared.

Qiuxiang’s own heart was sinking, and the whole courtyard was soon in an uproar.

Meanwhile, after Xiao Yi’s explanation, Zhaozhao’s small mouth fell open in shock.

Oh dear, it was just as Xiao Yi had described—confiscation was terrifying, and Zhaozhao wanted no part of it.

Since she didn’t want that…

She remembered her mother’s words—“The best defense is a good offense.” If she didn’t want to go through the horror of confiscation and worse tragedies to follow, she’d have to act first.

She’d just have to get rid of the emperor and take the throne herself!

Dignity lies only at the point of the sword, and truth is found within the range of the cannon. Once she blasted the emperor away, who would dare threaten her home again?

Excellent idea!

Ready to make her move, Zhaozhao thought back to the treats she’d once savored in secret with her father and the maids—cola, fried chicken, little cakes. With practiced fingers, she opened the shopping app on her bracelet, flicking through the pages at breakneck speed.

Express delivery, interstellar courier, guaranteed arrival—there was no place it couldn’t reach.

Zhaozhao buried herself in her shopping, swiping away on her wrist where no one could see. She even hummed the digging song Xiao Yi had taught her, her little legs swinging in rhythm: “Dig, dig, dig.”

Unconcerned with the chaos outside, Zhaozhao scrolled with growing confidence, until she spotted a “super laser cannon”—said to be powerful enough to flatten a hundred miles in one shot, lightweight, foolproof to operate. Zhaozhao was pleased.

With a string of zeros in her account before the decimal, she had no need to worry about the price. Brimming with self-assurance, she clicked to order, flinging out her hand in a grand gesture.

“Sisters, don’t cry—Zhaozhao will protect you!”

Aside from the ever-composed Qiuxiang, the maids stared at their little mistress, her eyes shining as she declared she would protect them, and burst into even louder sobs.

“Oh, my poor young lady!”

“Waaah—”

Zhaozhao was baffled. Hadn’t she told them not to cry? She’d already promised to protect them—why were they still weeping?

But before she could puzzle over it further, a warning echoed in her mind, and when she glanced at her bracelet’s shopping page, she was stunned.

“No way!”

How could her mother do this? Why was the screen awash in red warnings about insufficient permissions? She had more than enough interstellar credits!

Frustrated, Zhaozhao jabbed at her smart assistant.

[Xiao Yi, explain this!]

Xiao Yi’s voice was no longer soft and gentle; it became stiff and mechanical.

[According to interstellar regulations, the heir is under ten years old. For the sake of the host’s physical and mental health, previous owner has locked the system in ‘child mode.’]

Zhaozhao immediately felt like crying herself. “Mother, how could you bully your own child like this?”

Unwilling to give up, she thought, “If I can’t buy a laser cannon, I’ll lower my standards and buy one of those old-fashioned planes or cannons Mother mentioned.”

But once again, the screen flooded with red.

[Warning, warning: Children are not permitted to purchase lethal or anachronistic weapons! Children are not permitted to purchase lethal or anachronistic weapons!]

Well, that was just great—so much money, yet useless. She couldn’t buy a starship, couldn’t buy a laser cannon, couldn’t even buy an antique plane or cannon. What was the point of this system, then?